Savior
by Skylark Evanson
Summary: Lying in a pool of his own blood, Bart stared helplessly up into the blackening sky as the world began to crumble and crack around him. Every sound was like a whisper in his stunned ears, the bomb's effects still wearing off, although no pain was forgotten.


**A/N: Wanted to write some more NightPulse. This is what I came up with in the middle of the night.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of Young Justice.**

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**Savior**

Lying in a pool of his own blood, Bart stared helplessly up into the blackening sky as the world began to crumble and crack around him. Every sound was like a whisper in his stunned ears, the bomb's effects still wearing off, although no pain was forgotten.

"Bart," came a voice from the edge of the abyss, and Impulse twisted his head to see that man in the black uniform rushing towards him, the proud blue bird still sketched onto his chest. "Bart!"

The world was slowly slipping into focus. Like a blind man regaining sight, Bart watched as the flickering orange tones took on the shape of starved flames; the black sky was smoke-filled air, ash raining down, down, down... down, down, down...

"Bart!" Blood splashed onto both of them as Nightwing slid into the ever-growing pool, quickly pulling out medical supplies that the speedster didn't even know he carried. From the pouches around his waist came rolls and rolls of bandages, and Bart couldn't help but wonder why he came so prepared.

Then again, it was Nightwing.

"Bart, are you awake?" asked the hero, tending to the younger teens wounds despite his own wounds and fractures. "Can you hear me?" His hands worked frantically at the bandages, quickly staunching the waterfall of blood flow that was escaping so quickly from the speedster's body.

"Yeah, yeah," coughed Bart, smoke and ash filling his lungs, making his chest feel heavy as the thick air weighed him down. "Totally crash, Dick."

So he was either unaware, in shock, or trying to be brave, and Dick couldn't decide between the three; Bart Allen was a difficult kid. "Jesus, Imp. You had me scared to death."

"I love you too, Dick," breathed Bart with a half laugh and a mild wince of pain.

Nightwing struggled to be more careful. Bravery would only last so long. "If you ever do something as stupid as that again, I'll have you on probation from the team, lockdown with the League, and put in a freaking inhibitor collar if I have to."

"That sounds kinky," snickered Bart before a moan of pain made him seal his lips again to keep from betraying weakness. The pain was firing on all pistons through his smaller body, and the blazing hot fire did nothing to distract him from the misery of the world around them.

"Not funny, Bart," huffed Dick as he put a bit more wrapping in place over the stub where his boyfriend's leg should've been. He then reached over to brush caramel-colored hair from the younger boy's forehead, checking on those beautiful green eyes to make sure his face was unharmed. "Do you think you can try and get up?"

Bart was silent for a long moment as he swallowed. With a heavy chest and an even heavier heart, he responded almost silently, "No."

"Alright," said Dick softly, brushing a soft kiss to the speedster's cheek. "Come on. I'll pull you up and carry you back to a safer spot. We've still gotta find Cassie and Wolf yet. They're the only two unaccounted for right now."

Out of habit, his mouth began talking, his brain not quite connected: "I can help you lo-"

"No you can't." Dick clasped his hand with Bart's and quickly pulled him upright. "You need to sit down and get that treated properly. My patch job won't stop the bleeding forever and you have to be careful of infection."

"I know," murmured Bart, holding onto Nightwing for a sense of balance; still, his whole body felt wrong, twisted, contorted, tilted. He was silent for a long moment, just hanging onto his boyfriend and hoping that he wouldn't fall down... "Hey Dick?"

Those hidden blue eyes had been on the now pink-hued horizon, but they swiveled back to Bart instantly, concern forming a frown on his lips. "Yeah?"

"...can I have a piggyback ride? Instead of being carried?"

Dick didn't quite care either way, but he did care that the speedster was thinking and talking. It meant no shock or other immediate trauma. "Anything you want." Dick quickly, and carefully, pulled Bart up onto his back and made sure to hang onto the one full leg and the one that was only half there; the balance was strange.

Once Bart's arms had encircled his neck, he asked, "Are you okay up there?"

It took a few seconds for Bart to taste and smell the real world again, the ash in the air and the scent of hot smoke. "Yeah," he replied. "Totally crash. I can keep look out for Cassie and Wolf up here, too." The brown-haired boy gave his bravest smile and hoped the world would be kind; he didn't want to have to point out dead corpses to his lover.

Things like this reminded Nightwing why he'd fallen for Bart in the first place: that ever-lasting optimism. "Alright. Just hang on tight."

There was suddenly hot air right on his cheek, and he could feel the blood rush into his face as Bart's lips found their way to his ear. "Believe me, I never want to let go."

Slowly, Nightwing started moving over the fallen buildings and rubble, the bombs effects having taken down almost the entire city of Blüdhaven. Dirt, stone, fire, and steel acted as impenetrable barriers between the worlds of safety and misery. His gloved hands kept tight hold on Bart, and Bart's arms never loosened from around his neck. Instead, that voice continued in his ear, less alluring, more concerned, filled with fear.

"Do you think I could get a prosthetic?" he questioned softly, his fingers quickly growing fidgety, touching and feeling along Dick's defined collarbone.

"For everyday use, sure." Dick hated to be the bearer of bad news, but he was also the realistic one between the two; Bart's optimism and belief could sometimes carry him too far ours of reality's grasp. "As for keeping up in the hero business, I don't think a prosthetic would be able to stay on without being severely damaged in just a sprint."

As his pale lips pursed, Bart's arms tightened around Dick's neck. He said nothing in response, but gave off a tangible silence.

"You'll be alright," promised Nightwing quietly. "Bruce and I will take the best possible care of you and look into every prosthetic solution." He only hoped Bart could feel reassured; Dick wanted nothing more than to find Bart's hand and give it a squeeze in an attempt to remind the speedster that his boyfriend was right there, that he would do anything to help his beloved. "We won't let you go down easy."

Still. His confidence wasn't exactly inspiring or awe striking. Bart had to swallow hard and keep his hold on Grayson. Everything still ached. Bruises formed and healed almost instantaneously. The skin on his leg was already trying to stitch itself up whilst still slowing what little blood flow was left.

"Does this change anything between us?" asked Bart in a timid tone, one hand actually finding enough of Nightwing's skin-tight uniform to get a fistful of fabric. "Because if you don't want a one-legged speedster-"

"Bart," breathed Dick, still hiking over mountains of fallen buildings and through city streets that could pass as meadows of ash, "I fell in love with you for thousands of reasons. You having two legs was not one of them." He grunted as he misjudged a step and almost lost his balance; Bart yelped in mild fear and gripped onto his savior tighter. Realizing the ground was steady below him again, Nightwing continued in a hitched voice, "Besides, you don't need to have two legs for us to have a good time."

Impulse leaned forward and planted a sloppy kiss on the leader's cheek. "So I won't lose you?" asked Bart quietly, his fingers fidgeting while his one foot wriggled anxiously, actually making it harder for Nightwing to hold him.

"Never," promised Dick, seeing the small encampment of shelter the team was currently operating out of through the wall of ash, dust, and smoke. "And hopefully, I won't lose you to stupid things like running into exploding buildings." He let a smile spill onto his features. "So no more of that, please."

"Dunno if that'll be happening any time soon," muttered Bart, eyeing his useless bloodied stump of a leg. "So feeling the mode..."

"Everything will be fine, Imp," assured Nightwing, readjusting his boyfriend's position on piggyback. "I'll do anything I can to help you out and to make you feel more comfortable. We'll get you back to normal, I promise. And I'll be with you the whole time."

And Bart gave a contented sigh before letting his lips drift down to Dick's neck, thanking him for the piggyback ride and for his promises; Nightwing's pulse quickened and his lips sealed up tight. For Bart, the pain, fire, destruction, and leglessness were all pushed to the back of his mind because right then and there, it was him, Dick, and nothing else...

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**A/N: Well, I'm not feeling this ending as much as I wanted to, but I still like it. Leave a review? Thanks for reading (:**

**~Sky**


End file.
